A pig with lipstick?

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Cheboygan Daily Tribune - Cheboygan, MI

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Posted Oct. 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Posted Oct. 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM

When is a pig not a pig? Apparently if you put lipstick on it. According to your coverage of recent Cheboygan Planning Commission meetings, over a year ago Mr. Mark Hall wanted to “restore a 110’ historic fire tower for personal use” on the top of his property at Griswold Mountain. At the recent Planning Commission meeting Mark Hall’s lawyer declared that the application had been withdrawn, “because there are better ways to do it”. But the truth is, the application was denied. Lo and behold, the next year Mr. Hall submits an application to build a “fire tower type tower” for radio/broadband transmission. This is indeed the very same tower, at the very same site, only now Mr. Hall is willing to attach an antenna to it. The Cheboygan Zoning Administrator allowed this application to be presented to the Planning Commission. Recently, the Commission was forced to consider the merits of the application as if a fire tower really is a radio tower. I suspect most of us know the difference. If you put lipstick on a pig, isn’t it still a pig? I have yet to see a radio tower with a 22’ base, stairs to the top, and a 7’ observation deck. Mr. Hall found a internet provider from Wyoming, Mich., who was happy to place his antenna on the fire tower so that Mr. Hall could get a permit to build it as he wished. If you want a radio tower, apply for a radio tower permit. If you want a fire tower, apply for a permit to build a fire tower. The Planning Commission wisely restricted the building permit so that Mr. Hall’s tower can only be used for radio/broadband transmission, but how this will be enforced, and whether later the permit can be changed to accommodate other uses once the fire tower is built, remains to be seen. Trish Woollcott Tuscarora Township